No Cheap Love

     I saw it on the internet the other day. It was an ad for an engagement ring. The picture of the ring is pretty spectacular. The photograph did a great job highlighting the attractive setting of the ring. The large stone was surrounded by 18 smaller chips and five similar chips were set in the band itself. It looked amazing I could only guess the small fortune it would cost. $2500? $3000? $5000?
     The only problem-it was a fake. "Brigitte's Imitation Diamond Solitaire Ring, Price : $30.00"
     Imagine the disappointment, imagine the insult, and imagine the anger when a woman finds out that her engagement ring, the pledge of his love was a fake.
     We're called to love, especially as leaders who claim the name of the Forgiver. We are called to love.
     So imagine our people, our friends, our family discovering that our supposed love for them was nothing more than an act, a fake, an imitation.
     In one sentence in Romans Paul sets the standard for a leaders love. "Love must be sincere." Romans 12:9 NIV
     The Greek word for sincere could be translated. . .

Guileless - open and honest and not expecting others to behave differently
Pure - clean and free from impurities
True - not pretended or artificial
Genuine - having the qualities or value claimed
Without hypocrisy - without false claims or pretense
Without dissimulation - seeking to hide true feelings, thoughts or intentions

The Forgiver's leaders LOVE.

Lost Lid

A heavy storm blew through my neighborhood last week. It reminded me of one of those leadership principles I think about so often. It occurred the morning of our usual garbage pickup. Up and down the street, the garbage cans and recycling bins placed at the curb the night before had been dutifully emptied by the sanitation department earlier that morning. But with most people away at work when the winds came, lids, cans, and bins became scattered up and down the street. Anyone driving down our road was forced to avoid numerous objects blown into the street.

At about 3:00 pm I was heading home to get ready for an appointment. As I drove through the garbage can maze, I wondered if I'd find all my cans and lids. A quick survey of the yard revealed a recycling bin and lid, two garbage cans, and ONE lid.

Rats! After a search up and down the street, a search through the landscaping around the house, and a walk through the neighboring yards, it was apparent. The lid was lost.

The lid is a vitally important in getting my garbage out each week. Without a lid, my garbage becomes prone to raccoon invasion. It's not that I dislike raccoons, it's just the mess they make when they get into my garbage.

I had a choice to make. I could: (1) keeping looking; (2) hope that a favoring wind would bring it back; (3) live without a lid; (4) replace the can. Option 4 made the most sense, so $10 and one trip to Wal-Mart later, the problem was solved, the mission accomplished. I could get the garbage out without raccoons getting into it.

So what were the leadership reminders?

1. Storms happen. Sometimes they leave consequences that cannot be avoided.
2. In the wake of a leadership storm, assessing your choices is always the first step.
3. Not every choice makes sense.
4. A leader makes the choice that preserves the mission.

As the church was spreading across Asia Minor, the apostles dealt with leadership storms-storms about Gentiles, Judaizers, legalism versus freedom. Read Acts again and watch leaders in the wake of storms make the choices that preserve the mission.

Leaders lead. Their choices matter, especially in the wake of a storm.